Nursing Elites

1. Which of the following sentences shows the correct use of quotation marks?

• A. "Grady asked Abe, 'Did you know that an earthquake and a tsunami hit Messina, Italy, in 1908?'"
• B. Grady asked Abe, 'Did you know that an earthquake and a tsunami hit Messina, Italy, in 1908?'
• C. Grady asked Abe, "Did you know that an earthquake and a tsunami hit Messina, Italy, in 1908?"
• D. Grady asked Abe, "Did you know that an earthquake and a tsunami hit Messina, Italy, in 1908?"

Correct answer: C

Rationale: The correct use of quotation marks is in option C. In this option, the entire quoted sentence is enclosed within double quotation marks. This is the standard convention for punctuating direct speech in English. Option A has an incorrect placement of single and double quotation marks. Option B lacks opening double quotation marks for the spoken sentence. Option D incorrectly places the closing quotation mark outside the question mark, which is not the standard punctuation rule for quoted sentences.

2. Which sentence uses the semicolon correctly?

• A. The play was long; however, it was very entertaining.
• B. The guests arrived; Sarah greeted them at the door.
• C. John likes apples; Mary prefers oranges.
• D. He was tired; he went to bed early.

Correct answer: B

Rationale: Option B correctly uses a semicolon to join two independent clauses related to the same event. In this sentence, 'The guests arrived' and 'Sarah greeted them at the door' are both independent clauses that are appropriately connected using a semicolon. Choice A incorrectly uses a semicolon before 'however,' which is a conjunction that should be preceded by a comma. Choice C incorrectly uses a semicolon to connect two independent clauses that are not closely related. Choice D incorrectly uses a semicolon to connect two independent clauses without a clear relationship or cohesion.

3. Which of the following is a complex sentence?

• A. When skywriting, a pilot flies a small aircraft in specific, particular formations, creating large letters visible from the ground.
• B. The public defense attorney was able to maintain her optimism despite her dearth of courtroom wins, her lack of free time, and her growing list of clients.
• C. Because the distance between stars in the galaxy is far greater than the distance between planets, interstellar travel is expected to be an even bigger challenge than interplanetary exploration.
• D. Invented in France in the early nineteenth century, the stethoscope underwent a number of reiterations before the emergence of the modern form of the instrument in the 1850s.

Correct answer: C

Rationale: A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one dependent clause connected by a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun. In choice C, the sentence 'Because the distance between stars in the galaxy is far greater than the distance between planets' is a dependent clause introduced by the subordinating conjunction 'Because,' while the rest of the sentence 'interstellar travel is expected to be an even bigger challenge than interplanetary exploration' forms the independent clause. This combination of an independent clause and a dependent clause makes choice C a complex sentence. Choices A, B, and D do not contain both an independent and dependent clause connected in the way that choice C does, thus they do not qualify as complex sentences.

4. Hampton's greatest achievement as the leader of the BPP may be his fight against street gang violence in Chicago. Which of these, if any, is misspelled?

• A. None of these are misspelled.
• B. greatest
• C. achievement
• D. leader

Correct answer: A

Rationale: The correct answer is A. All the words in the sentence are spelled correctly, so there is no misspelling present. 'Greatest,' 'achievement,' and 'leader' are all spelled correctly. Choice B, 'greatest,' is correctly spelled as it refers to the highest rank or importance. Choice C, 'achievement,' is also spelled correctly, denoting something accomplished successfully. Choice D, 'leader,' is the correct spelling for a person who leads or commands a group.

5. Which of the following is not a simple sentence?

• A. Agatha Christie was the author of more than sixty detective novels.
• B. Her most famous detectives were Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
• C. She also wrote over fifteen collections of short stories about these detectives.
• D. Most readers favor Poirot, but Christie preferred Miss Marple. Hercule Poirot is remembered not only for his genius in solving mysteries, but also for his fastidious habits and his commitment to personal grooming.

Correct answer: D

Rationale: Option D is not a simple sentence because it contains multiple independent clauses joined by conjunctions ('but' and 'and'). Simple sentences consist of a single independent clause, which is a complete sentence with a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought on its own. In contrast, option D includes multiple independent clauses about Hercule Poirot, his habits, and Miss Marple, making it a compound sentence rather than a simple one. Choices A, B, and C are all simple sentences as they each express a single complete thought with a subject and a verb, without joining multiple independent clauses together.

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